Jakarta – Indonesian exports fell 9.8 percent in 2001, the biggest percentage slump in 12 years, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Friday.

Bureau head Sudarti Surbakti said exports last year fell to 56.035 billion dollars from 62.124 billion in 2000. "Percentage-wise, the 2001 exports decline is the biggest fall in the last 12 years, although in terms of value, it is still higher than in 1997," she told reporters.

Imports slid to 30.786 billion dollars from 33.514 billion dollars a year earlier. Surbakti said non-oil and gas exports fell to 43.405 billion dollars in 2001 from 47.757 billion dollars in the previous year, while non-oil and gas imports fell to 25.331 billion dollars from 27.495 billion dollars.

Exports in December totalled 3.992 billion dollars compared with 3.834 billion dollars in November, she said. Imports in December amounted to 2.002 billion dollars, down from 2.03 billion dollars in the previous month.

Surbakti said that excluding oil and gas, exports in December totalled 3.127 billion dollars, against 3.02 billion dollars in November. She said non-oil and gas exports in December increased to most export destinations including to Indonesia's major trading partners – the United States, Japan and Singapore.